Crystal Palace end 12-match winless run with victory at Brighton

Crystal Palace claimed their first win in 13 matches in all competitions as Ismaila Sarr’s strike helped Oliver Glasner’s side to a 1-0 victory over rivals Brighton & Hove Albion.

Sarr, who scored in the same fixture last season, netted in the 61st minute after being teed up by substitute Evann Guessand, the Aston Villa loanee making his debut for the club.

Brighton came close to equalising four minutes after going behind, but Dean Henderson produced a fine stop to deny Charalampos Kostoulas.

From there, Palace held on for a huge three points and came close to adding a second, but Jorgen Strand Larsen was unable to mark his first Eagles outing with a goal from Daniel Munoz's cross.

The result eases Palace’s relegation fears as they moved up to 13th in the table, one point and one place above Brighton, whose Premier League winless streak extended to five matches.

How the match unfolded

A low-key first half saw Lewis Dunk glance a header just wide from Pascal Gross’ free-kick, before Maxence Lacroix blocked Maxim De Cuyper’s stinging drive.

Having rarely threatened, Palace had a chance to take the lead before the break, but after being sent through by Munoz, Sarr could only blaze his effort off target.

But with their first shot on target, the Eagles took the lead when Guessand rolled the ball into the unmarked Sarr, who finished into the net despite Bart Verbruggen’s best efforts.

Watch: Sarr's winner

Henderson then had to be on his toes moments later at the other end, with the Palace captain standing tall to thwart Kostoulas when one-on-one.

Palace could have made things more comfortable late on, but Verbruggen twice denied debutant Strand Larsen, first with a stop at his near post before diving low to his left to repel the Norwegian’s shot from Munoz’s cutback.

Brighton's cutting edge lacking

Brighton knew the importance of a victory here, but in a battle between two of the division’s out-of-form sides, the Seagulls had their wings clipped and now could potentially be dragged into trouble.

Apart from Kostoulas’ chance just after falling behind, Brighton struggled to break down Palace’s compact defence, despite introducing the likes of Yankuba Minteh, Danny Welbeck and Diego Gomez from the bench.

Perhaps the only positive was the performance of Harry Howell, who became the first player aged 17 years or younger to start a Premier League match for Brighton, and the teenager showed some promising glimpses in the final third.

Brighton and Fabian Hurzeler may be looking nervously over their shoulders with only eight points separating them from in-form West Ham United in 18th.

Things do not get any easier, with a trip to Villa coming up next on Wednesday.

Sarr continues Amex hot streak

After finding the back of the net against Nottingham Forest last time out, Sarr arrived at one of his favoured grounds with confidence, and he delivered once again to down Palace’s biggest rivals.

Palace did, however, look like a team that had not won in their last nine Premier League games heading into the clash.

Adam Wharton’s attempt, which sailed over Verbruggen’s net in the 33rd minute, was their only attempt before Sarr’s first-half miss.

But when presented with another chance, which was set up by Guessand just five minutes after replacing Yeremy Pino, Sarr made sure he hit the target.

He has now scored more Premier League goals (three) at the Amex Stadium than any other away venue in the competition, having netted twice and set up another on his last appearance at the ground in December 2024.

A fine away performance would have been capped by a goal for Strand Larsen, but there were plenty of positives about his overall play.

The Norwegian will be looking to get on the scoresheet in Palace’s next league game, which sees them welcome struggling Burnley to Selhurst Park on 11 February.

Club reports

Brighton report | Palace report

What the managers said

Fabian Hurzeler: "It isn’t an easy moment but that’s football and we will face it. I wasn’t happy with our reaction after we conceded the goal. Normally, we react better, so that was not good enough. Before the goal the game could have gone in our direction but then a small mistake made the difference.

"I have to take responsibility for the results as coach. I always give my heart and soul for this club and I will keep trying to find solutions, together with my staff and players."

Oliver Glasner: "Today, I think we defended very well. This was always our foundation, I mentioned it so often. In the second-half, we gave them one finish [Dean Henderson saving from Charalampos Kostoulas] – to be fair, it was a good chance for them – but everything else we did so well.

"Then we waited for our moments. In the first-half, we were not really good enough in the final third, but we were a threat from set plays all the time. Then in the second-half, we had this great situation, where Evann Guessand wins the second ball and wins the duel.

"Then we know Isma makes his runs, and we take the chance. Two minutes later, they had one as well and Dean saved it. There were small margins on our side, but we were all relieved and really happy."

Next PL fixtures

Key facts

Palace have picked up 63 per cent of their points in the Premier League this season away from home (20/32); only Tottenham Hotspur (66 per cent) have a higher proportion on the road. Each of the Eagles’ last four wins in the competition have come on their travels.

Brighton’s only win in their last 12 Premier League games (D6 L5) was a 2-0 victory over Burnley in January. Since the first game in this period (3 December v Aston Villa), the Seagulls are 18th in the Premier League form table with just nine points – they came into that fixture in 5th spot in the table.

Glasner has won seven of the 14 away Premier League games in which his Palace side has had 40 per cent or less possession (D5 L2); that 50 per cent win rate is the joint-best of any manager on record in the competition (from 2003/04) to have overseen 5+ away matches with 40 per cent or lower (Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Mikel Arteta also 50 per cent).

There were just 14 shots in this match between Brighton (seven) and Palace (seven); only one Premier League fixture in 2025/26 has seen fewer (Sunderland v Newcastle United in December – 11).